is the last thing the fed wants to see because, you know, crude oil, higher prices at the pump are a tax. i was in chicago this last week. gas town, town. $4.20, $4.30 a gallon. clearly if we get some heightened tensions in the middle east and oil goes to $120, $130 a barrel. we see the national average at $5, $6, something like that, that is clearly going to take a lot of wind out of the already slow recovery. >> let me ask you a question that my friend bill o'reilly would insist upon. and that is, we're watching oil production just scream higher and higher and prices have been lower until just the last few weeks. what is going on here with crude prices and will we see them abate? will we see them reverse? >> well, i think a lot of it has been these middle east tensions. really, lou, if you think back between israel, are they going to bomb iran, just the things going on in iran and now syria and just all the tensions in the region, that have really helped elevate oil prices, because certainly if you look around the globe, there's a lot of supply, economies are pretty slow. i just think